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Show E3 Sunday, December26, 1999 Fire That Lazy Painter — Fix the Trim Yourself We have aluminum trim run- AROUND THE HOUSE ning around the outside perim- eter ofour house. It’s a dark brown and we would like to change the color to white. The paint guy told me he cannot paint this trim, because the paint will notstick. Is this it can we do to change First, fire that painter and find someoneelse. Or do it yourself. It is true that you cannotjust paintoverit. The trim will need to be primed first. Clean it thoroughly. Use a wire brush and removeanyflaking paint.A fast way to accomplishthis is with an eek drill and a stripping wheel. Next, wipe all the trim with somepaint thinner. Removeall paintresidue. Before painting, you will need to use a primer paint designed for metal. Your paint-supply store au advise you which brandis st. Welive on the beach and our Gary W.Green/Akron Beacon Journal Mai Shearer uses a belt sander with bag to capture dust as he smooths out a new hardwood floor — an incredibly dusty chore. Refinishing Your HardwoodFloor: Would You Rather Save Your Money or Your Marriage? BY JIM QUINN NIGHT RIDER NEWS SERVICE imagine you're sitting in your living roomiain your spouse ms that the hardwood floor especially scruffy. You @, saying the room would be ‘prighter if you refinished the oak. you say the money you would save ‘bytoloing it yourself would be ‘eeietigh to pay for a Soa|weekend cin. Lots of people refinish own floors. Wisi's the worst shitcould happen’ ‘According to, vag experts, the bilities are endiess, ogalpiltie a chance you could xinian spewed all over your house and will be dry to the touch in one they know their job.” Brunton argues that most homeowners will do justfine if they just take their time. “The biggest problem I see is with people who a specialized disc sandercalled an just wantto rush, rush, rush and surface to dry enough for homeowners to replace their furniture orarea rugs. “You can walk across edger. Bruntonrents the drum sander and edger together for ee $55 a cay Let's say 9wiht to refinis! living room and dining room ne about 200" iuare feet of floor ‘space. You stouldbe able to sand the entire area in less than a day, Bruntonsaid. There's more, ple You need to buy the special sand; the drum be done,” hesaid.“If you just slow the floor the next day, but werecommendthatpeople leaveit alone you. The drum sander will get everything except a 2-inch margin along eachwall.Forthat, you need down and do it right, you'll get a good result.” The most common mistake in- volves using the sander. This machineis so powerful thatif you pause in one spot you might gouge a dip in your flooring. Another common mistake in- volves all the sawdust produced during the job. That sawdust must be completely removed from the room orit will settle on thefinish as it is drying. Brunton says do-it- yourselfers have to take the time to vacuum everywhere. hour,it takes several daysfor the for a week,” Williams said. “It maylook dry, feel dry and smell dry,butit’s not dry.” The question of hiring a professional vs. doing it yourself is aboutto take on a special meaning for Williams, 32, who got married in October. He and his bride purcreed a home in Silver Lake, jo. house is only 2 years old. The other day I noticed rust stains aboutthe size of a quarter on the siding board. How can remove these spots? ‘These spots are rust stains from thenails that hold the siding board on the house. The salt air accelerates oxidation. The builder should have used galva- nized nails. To removetherust, youwill need to apply a naval jelly, available at most home centers or hardware stores.If nails are loose, replace them with galva- nized nails. Once all the rustis removed, repaint those areas. Keep aclose watch onthesiding and removeany rustspots that appear. Our air-conditioning unit is not cooling as it should, especially this past hot summer. I FRED HUESTON had the AC guy take a look at it, and he said it was old but still working properly. He suggested I install an atticfan ora whole-housefan. Aren't t the same thing?Ifnot, which one I use? Good question. Most people think an attic fan is the same as a whole-house fan. They are very different. An attic fan is designed to remove air from theattic space only. Theideais thatif the hot ajr is removed from theattic, your ACwill work more efficiently. A whole-house fan is designed to rémovehotair from the house, through theattic and outthe vents. Thisis the type I would in- stall. On somedays, you may not need yourACatall. Qa Honey-Do Tip f “Honey, I tried using one of °, your screwdrivers and there are: several screwsattached toit.” Screwdrivers and othertoois tend to become magnetized over time. To demagnetize your tools; you can use a solderingiron. Turn ontheiron andlightly pass. the tip across the magnetized pert ofthetool. Fred Huestonis the author of Several how-to books on home re-~ pair. Write to him at NTC, ie Longdale Ave., Longwood, Fi a 327500r tivsonpanlcae. Ty, no personal replies. Christmas Rush at the White House “T can say with glee that the flooringis all hardwood andtile,” volunteers spent three days in early December installing 1,120 said Williams. “There's not an ‘THE WASHINGTON POST Most of us wait until after Christmas, or even well into Jan- ounce of carpeting in the whole place.” uary, to dismantle our festive holiday handiwork. of gingerbread. And never mind himself. “I’m going to handpick a where yuletide finery will come down Tuesday to make way for millennium trimmings. Never mind that a small army of Williams said he would never consider the floors when floors need to be Not so at the White House, feet of garland, 324 wreaths,1,079 bows, 53,500 lights and 120 pounds that recycling is a White House byword from Christmas to Chirittmas. Few of the current improve their ssional vs. doing it yourself. ta Professionals and sma- ‘wuts alike use the same specialtools to refinish floors. Don’t think about the orbital appearance. “And it costs a lot less to do it yourself,” Brunton said.Ifyou add the cost of equipment rental, supplies and materials, the cost of re- Ron Raddon & Raddon Brothers Construction cordially invite you to preview the spectacular Water Feature, Grand Entrance andfinished Rockwood Model Homeat Willams ofskill to operate fi in’ tight quarters. BOULDERS locatedjust south ofLa Caille restaurant at 10300 S. Wasatch Boulevard “And if you drop the drum our Old House Has Started to Crack, But You Needn’t unless there is souie cther cause, The Banidasok Dangon beon pcre rar development secured in a relaxed condominium Ten above the Salt Lake nectar Caen poonerroar ety set Stearns » 0 pbEPIAP FDPPA Pz eeVER STE UePER CR REF FSSaE aes Bee VEE Se FERRESe ae ES eee Seer CBee BRR SKS She ree “He & SE Mtr The Salt Lake Tribune HOME |
